Update 2: We know many of you were looking forward to playing the promised PS Plus Edition and we are truly sorry for the delay. Our first priority is to provide you with the best possible experience while playing DRIVECLUB. With the high volume of new players and additional server load the PS Plus Edition is anticipated to bring, we are currently not confident that we can guarantee the best online experience. Until we can ensure that everyone can enjoy the full social connected online experience, we will be postponing the release of the PS Plus Edition until further notice.

UPDATE: Our priority for DRIVECLUB is to enable you to play and enjoy everything it has to offer and PlayStation recognises that the prior plan for DRIVECLUB entitlement for the upgrade to the PS Plus edition was not appropriate. As a result, we have adjusted the PlayStation Plus terms for DRIVECLUB.

Now, If you intend on downloading DRIVECLUB PlayStation Plus Edition, and upgrading to the full game experience, you will have access to the full game even if your PlayStation Plus subscription runs out.

The response we’ve seen to the trailer is seriously overwhelming, and it’s time for some more news.

Welcome to the first of three DRIVECLUB updates this week. DRIVECLUB PlayStation Plus Edition has been a hot topic since its announce, so today’s video (the first of three) should answer most of your questions about the actual content included in this edition compared to the Blu-ray version.

One of the recurring questions we keep seeing is about the scale of the PlayStation Plus Edition. The simple answer is that with an active PlayStation Plus subscription, you can download DRIVECLUB PlayStation Plus Edition, which comes with one location (India), 11 tracks, 10 cars and access to all game modes.

But why did we choose to offer this particular selection of the game to PlayStation Plus subscribers for free?

DRIVECLUB is inherently next gen. It’s about accessibility for all and building a community of gamers who love online play. DRIVECLUB PlayStation Plus Edition is designed to be a quick and easy way for gamers all over the world to join the DRIVECLUB community. You can take part in all the game modes, set, send and compete in challenges, and race online against others in the DRIVECLUB community.

We think you’ll have a lot of fun playing DRIVECLUB once it launches on October 7th, digitally via the PlayStation store and on Blu-ray at your local retailer. If you’re an active PlayStation Plus subscriber and have been playing the PlayStation Plus Edition, but decide you want the full DRIVECLUB experience, you can purchase a one-time upgrade for $49.99. This will give you access to all five locations, 55 tracks, 50 cars and all 50 tour events, as long as your PlayStation Plus subscription remains active.

If you’re not an active PlayStation Plus member, you can still get DRIVECLUB via the PlayStation Store or your local retailer on Blu-ray.

I’m a pretty big supporter of PS+ and defend the “you don’t actually own those free games” to my friends, but this deal seems a little off to me. For $50 I get a version I can only use with PS+ but for $10 more I can get the full version that I own? Why wouldn’t I just buy the full game for the little bit of extra money? This just doesn’t sound like a good plan to me. Sorry, but you might want to rethink this “deal”.

This must be “everybody get mad about absolutely nothing” day on the blog…I wish I would’ve got the memo.

For this game, there is a 3-tiered pricing structure:
1) Get the PS Plus Edition and gain access to a handful of tracks, cars, areas, but ALL OF THE GAME MODES (it also has been made clear that you can get all of the trophies in the game by just playing the PS+ version);
2) Upgrade to the full game directly from the PS+ Edition for a price that’s $10 less than the retail price OF ANY OTHER REGULAR AAA PS4 GAME, and IN EXCHANGE FOR that discount, you must maintain your PS+ subscription to continue to play it; and
3) Buy the digital or retail version of the full version of Driveclub for $59.99 JUST LIKE YOU WOULD ANY OTHER PS4 GAME.

There is absolutely nothing shady or sinister about this offer! In fact, Sony is giving you MORE OPTIONS FOR HOW YOU CHOOSE TO PLAY THE GAME!!! Usually, it’s just option 1 or 3, right? Now there’s option 2! If it’s not for you, then don’t choose option 2!

Sony please fix the wording on this because everyone is confused. Your giving us a $10 discount for plus members but we only have access to everything while our ps+ accounts are active. That’s just dumb. The game should be available to us forever and not just with our accounts active. Man your PR teams must have nightmares with the damage control they have to do.

I have been pondering over this one and I would have to say it really does not sound right. I enjoy PS+ and this does not sit right. I don’t even have any complaints about the indy games that we have been getting on the 4.They have been a joy to play, but they all have been the full game. I am not even too mad at the part about digital buys not getting dropped $10, as I am trying to go all digital my self and there is a good argument that digital could be dropped a few bucks. As this game is not set to come out for some time now I really hope PlayStation really goes back and looks at the why they promote this game because it really looks as though people buying the game are getting the better end of the deal, witch leave a question on whether this should even be a + game at all.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, Sony, Do NOT let this become a trend!!! We don’t want slots in the PS+ lineup being taken up by glorified demos!

Also, why is the $50 upgrade only available while subscribed to PS+? This is basically a discount. This should function like all the discounts currently offered through Plus, namely, after paying the $50 upgrade fee, the game should be permanently owned by the purchaser, regardless of their Plus subscription status.

Guys at Sony, please tell me there is a miscommunication and if we do the $50 upgrade we can still play the game after PS+ lapses, and you only lose access to the free PS+ version if you haven’t upgraded. You don’t go from the sharing games video to this, this is utterly idiotic.

I’m not gonna buy a PS4 or any future PS products if this is the type of anti consumer policy Sony is going to pursue from now on, and I’ve owned and loved PS1-PS3.

Treating the upgrade as DLC rather than an unlock is pretty disgusting. I hope the feedback is being taken on board because for all the good will Sony earned back, stuff as anti-consumer as this should not happen.

(Cont. from #55) – Some bloggers are feigning indignation because the option #2 upgrade is tied to the PS+ membership. Your outrage is unwarranted.

To be sure, your argument is that typically, if you buy a game through Plus, it’s yours to keep whether you maintain your subscription or not. Option #2 is not equivalent to that situation. Do not think of Option #2 as an upgrade to the full game; think of it as a DRIVECLUB: SUPER PS+ EDITION ULTRA (lol!). You get the full game, but there are still strings attached in exchange for that $10 discount you received.

If you actually want the full game without strings attached, I guess you’ll just have to buy it at full price LIKE EVERY OTHER PS4 GAME THAT YOU’VE BOUGHT DAYS OR WEEKS AFTER ITS RELEASE!!! Sony did not pull a fast one on you…they just gave you an additional purchasing option that you can choose to use or not…it’s that simple.

So does that mean that if I got the PS + edition I’m going to be screwed verses players that have the full game or that bought better cars with cash? Are you following pay to win online mentality or are their limitation on who i can play with based on version?

Is this a joke Sony?
Paying $49.99 to upgrade it to the full edition than it is only playable as long as you are a PS+ member? That is just messed up, chances are there will be pre-order deals that bring this down to $50 anyways for the disc version, and even so, who in their right mind wouldn’t just pay the extra $10 and own it forever with no strings attached.

Now if you want to keep it with having a PS+ sub, then you need to lower the price from $49.99 to something substantially lower to make it worthwhile.

This isn’t even going into how the PS+ version of the game itself is rather weak when compared to how you made it sound when it was first announced. When it was first announced it was said that the PS+ version of the game would be the full game minus a few tracks/cars/game modes. Sorry, but this PS+ version is demo. If you gave like 20 tracks/cars that would of been a good PS+ version.

“…you can purchase a one-time upgrade for $49.99. This will give you access to all five locations, 55 tracks, 50 cars and all 50 tour events, as long as your PlayStation Plus subscription remains active.”

This is DRM, no ifs and or butts about it. If Sony gets away with it, this is what PS+ will become, play a fifth of the game, buy the rest for 5/6ths the price. This shareware model should not be allowed to happen particularly at ~50 bucks a year.

Well, I have to agree that the upgrade from PS+ Edition to the full game is kinda dumb. 49 dollars to an actual normal PS+ Edition? That’s not a good deal… If it was 19 ou 29 dollars, maybe. But 10 dollars less to a game that needs me to keep paying Plus it’s just not worth the money (not that I would stop being a Plus subscriber, but nevertheless).

1. “Free” Games remain in your download list for as long as you maintain PS+ membership. If it lapses, you lose the game.

2. “Discounted” Games are yours to keep in your download list forever, even if you drop PS+.

The problem is that the PS+ Driveclub “Upgrade” is being treated like DLC, not like a discounted full-game purchase.

DLC for a “Free PS+” game is inaccessible if you lapse membership. But if they were treating the upgrade as a full purchase, there would be no issue.

$49.99 is a hell of a lot for what’s being treated by Sony as DLC. Usually the base game being made “free” by PS+ is months old and started out at $59.99, and the DLC is a fraction of that cost. Here, the situation is flipped. The base game is effectively $10 being made “free” by PS+ with a massive DLC price.

Really don’t think that’s whining. Not that I care, I wasn’t super impressed by Driveclub when I played it at E3 last year. Passing regardless.

I have to echo the many complaints/ questions about the basic loss of the game would your PS+ expire if you upgrade digitally. This is nonsense. Makes buying digitally not even an option. The only explination I can think of is that this game is online ONLY. So even if you were to buy it digitally, you couldn’t play online without PS+. If so, yet another strike to the game. This should have an offline mode and buying the upgrade via + would allow you to retain the offline portion. I have a bad feeling this is online only game, at which point $50 is way too much.

I looked at previously Blog posts about Wolfenstein and it appears that Bethesda (the publisher of the game…not Sony) made the decision to offer that game to PS+ subscribers at a 10% discount if they pre-ordered it. That’s different than this situation. Sony is not giving you a discount for pre-ordering the game. They are discounting Driveclub if you choose to upgrade from the PS+ Edition and keep it tethered to Plus. If you don’t choose that option, you can simply purchase the game outright (digitally or at retail) without the tether.

@64 (SHEN_GT7L) – Not trying to be a jerk or anything, but can you please explain how Sony’s three-tiered pricing approach is “anti-consumer.” Sony is giving you an additional option for how you choose to purchase and play Driveclub. You can play the PS+ edition for free, you buy a discounted, but tethered version of the game, or you buy the game at full price untethered.

Regarding g27, Logitech said: Unfortunately, we still don’t have an official notification whether or not the wheel will be supported on PS4 consoles. The wheel works with HID drivers found on PS3 port consoles, so we’re expecting the same driver implementation on its current successor. It’s up for the game console developers (Sony) to verify if their driver support will accommodate external wheel controllers, or to update it in a timely manner. I hope this information helps.http://forums.logitech.com/t5/Logitech-G-Controllers/Logitech-G27-and-Playstation-4/td-p/1045273

Please ReThink your pricing strategy for the PS plus upgrade price… it makes no sense to pay $49.99 for Drive club only to have it disappear after the subscription ends… I pay $50 s year for a subscription… But if I can’t afford that in the future I do not want to LOSE access to my $50 Drive Club game.

Regarding g27, Logitech said: “Unfortunately, we still don’t have an official notification whether or not the wheel will be supported on PS4 consoles. The wheel works with HID drivers found on PS3 port consoles, so we’re expecting the same driver implementation on its current successor. It’s up for the game console developers (Sony) to verify if their driver support will accommodate external wheel controllers, or to update it in a timely manner. I hope this information helps.”

Just wanted to add my disappointment on the pricing scheme for PS+. Hurts my desire to buy the full game, and if I do it’ll be the non “upgrade” version so I don’t lose access to the game I paid for if I ever drop from PS+.

@66 (Welmosca) – Well said, sir! THAT’S what I’m talking about! You are making the informed decision to forgo the offered discount on Driveclub that is tethered to the PS+ Subscription and CHOOSING (keyword) to buy the full version at full price. Or, of course, you could wait to purchase the full game at a discount once it goes on sale at months down the road. Either way, you are acting as an informed consumer and making a decision on how to purchase the game based on the information provided. In other words, you are buying the version of the game that it makes sense for you to buy!

BTW, who here that has a PS4 plan on letting their PS+ subscription lapse at any time, considering that without the subscription, you can’t play online multiplayer? And honestly, why would you buy Driveclub (a game literally built to be played online) and not have a PS+ subscription? Food for thought…

“If you’re an active PlayStation Plus subscriber and have been playing the PlayStation Plus Edition, but decide you want the full DRIVECLUB experience, you can purchase a one-time upgrade for $49.99. This will give you access to all five locations, 55 tracks, 50 cars and all 50 tour events, as long as your PlayStation Plus subscription remains active.”

This is absolute BS. Don’t be like this Sony, now that you are on top you shouldn’t turn on your consumers.

What a bunch of lying scumbags. From the start you said the PS+ version will just be missing out on a few cars and tracks, now it’s the vast majority. You also said the upgrade would be a small fee. $50 is not a small fee, at that price I rather just pick up Project Cars on PC (which I will now).

I gave up on this game. We all know Project Cars will blow it away this fall season.

I’m definitely not buying this game due to this ridiculous stipulation of it being tied to your Plus account if you do the “upgrade” route. You didn’t do this with Starhawk.

This certainly better not be the start of some trend, we’re supposed to OWN whatever we pay for through PS Plus with discounts and offers and what not. If we spend money on it, it should NOT be tied to our subscription in any way, shape or form.

Also, this is a complete crock from what was being said about this game back before launch, the inference was that we would be getting a fair chunk of the game with only a few cars/tracks locked behind a paywall, not 4/5 of the game.

I realize it’s a brand new title and will be available with Plus the same day, but even so, this was supposed to be a launch game and that was what had been promised to us back then.

Definitely not getting the PS+ edition. The deal really sucks, I mean, $50 dollars for a title that I can’t play if for whatever reason my PS+ subscription is not active? Better paying $10 more and getting the physical copy, that you can trade or sell later.

So I can pay almost full retail price to upgrade to the full version, but that full version is bound by the same Playstation Plus limit as the free version, despite paying $50 for it.

Nope. No thank you. I’ll play the free version for a bit, but that’s the most DriveClub is ever going to get out of me, and I suspect others will feel the same.

And bee tee dubs, I say that having a PS+ account that’s good until May 7th 2017, so it’s not like I’m in any danger of my sub running out. I just cannot stand the idea that you’ll have to pay near full price for a game but still have it tied to your Plus subscription. That ain’t cool.

I dont understand. Its 49.99 for the full game as long as your plus subscription remains active? What does that mean? If my plus goes inactive will I have to rebuy the whole game at full price? Pay the difference or what? This sounds a little shady.